India at the 2025 World Athletics Championships : Hopes and Expectations

The World Athletics bandwagon moves on from the Diamond League to the blue riband event of the year, the World Athletics Championships at Tokyo.

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The sporting world’s focus would be on the National Stadium at Tokyo a venue famous for giving us India’s first Olympic medal in athletics the stadium where we witnessed Neeraj Chopra’s golden moment. If you are a sports fan, the week starting September 13th is going to be a royal feast.

From an Indian perspective, Neeraj Chopra (yes, him again!) is the only overwhelming medal favourite. However, such events are not only about medaling. It is an opportunity to turn the athletics world’s attention towards India. For instance, the Budapest world championships in 2023 saw an unprecedented 3 Indians in the top 6 in men’s Javelin– moments that make it all worthwhile.

Here is the full Indian squad for the 2025 athletics world championships.

Let us look at what to expect from an Indian perspective at the championships.

Men’s javelin:

Without doubt, Neeraj Chopra is our best bet for a medal at Tokyo. However, his form this year has been a bit worrying. He has got a new coach in legend, Jan Zelezny and the year started with a bang with his first 90m throw at the Doha diamond league. Since then, he has had only one throw over 88m. From 2022 to 2024, even though he never touched 90m, he was constantly in the 88-90m range; a mark that would guarantee a medal in most meets. In 5 other competitions in 2025, Neeraj has crossed 86m only once.

We know his tendency to come clutch at crucial moments. So, I am sure, he would medal but Gold seems a long way away now. Another unlucky trend is that Neeraj’s 5 best throws have ended up as second-place performances.

This year’s form thrower is Julian Weber and it is his Gold to lose. We never know, what version of Arshad Nadeem would turn up. If at his best, he could blow away his competitors. The experienced Anderson Peters, Jakub Vadlejch, Keshorn Walcott and Julius Yego will be itching to stage a comeback. Brazil’s Luiz Mauricio da Silva and the Sri Lankans, Sumedha Ranasinghe and Rumesh Tharanga could spring a surprise or two.

Sachin Yadav is probably the Indian thrower with the highest ceiling; however, form is not on his side and this competition could be a bit early in his progression. His performances have been flat since his PB (85.16m) at the Asian Athletics Championships to win silver. He would do well to come near his PB. Rohit and Yashvir should target a place in the finals.

Men’s triple jump:

Praveen Chithravel and Abdulla Aboobacker have been consistently breaking the 17m mark over the past 3 seasons. But 17m here can only get them a place in the finals. The field is absolutely stacked with 11 jumpers (including Praveen) having cleared 17.3m this year remarkably that list does not include the reigning Olympic champion, Jordan Diaz Fortuin and reigning world champion, Hughes Fabrice Zango. I’m predicting all 3 medals to go above 17.5m.

The problem for the Indian jumpers has been their performance, or lack thereof, in foreign soil and big events. Both have a total of one competition outside India, with a jump over 17m Praveen in a category F event in Cuba (17.37m) and Abdulla at the 2022 Commonwealth games(17.02m). It would be a remarkable feat to enter the finals; even remarkable if they achieve a PB.

Will Sreeshankar get his deserved accolades after missing the Paris Olympics?

Murali Sreeshankar is probably most fans’ favourite Indian track and field athlete, apart from Neeraj. So, it was heartbreaking to see him miss 21 months of his prime, including the Paris Olympics, with a possible career-ending Patellar tendon injury. It is mind-boggling that he has come back like he never left and with less than 2 months left for qualification, he managed to sneak in to get an entry to this year’s world championships. In 5 competitions, he has managed to cross 8m thrice.

In the season leaderboard, he ranks 42nd. But it is not as tough as it seems. Only one (Tentoglu) has crossed 8.4m. There are 40 jumpers between Sree and 8.4m- a mark he can possibly touch on a good day. It is going to need a lot of stars to align themselves and if there is anyone who deserves that, it is my fellow Palakkad man.

Animesh could be our greatest ever sprinter:

One could argue that Animesh Kujur is already a legend because he holds both the 100m and 200m national records. At the world level, he still has a huge way to go. He would not even make the semifinals even if he breaks the NR in 200m. But the positive is that he will go into it without any pressure of expectations. He should just enjoy the experience, and you never know, something miraculous might happen.

Can Gulveer stretch his beast-mode further?

What Animesh is to 100 and 200m, Gulveer has been to 5000 and 10000m. He is only one of 4 Indians to breach the qualification standard (in 5000m); Neeraj, Praveen and Parul being the others. He has broken both national records this year and looking at his progression, he can cause a surprise or two here. Long distance running is not for the faint-hearted and it is nice to see an Indian mixing it amongst the Kenyans, Ethiopians and the like.

Tejas Shirse and Sarvesh Kushare, the men from Maharashtra, have done well to qualify. Men’s high jump field is more open than sprint hurdles and Sarvesh has an outside chance of reaching the finals. One can only hope they make use of the opportunity, when the spotlight is on them and give it their best shot.

Racewalking is such a tough discipline to predict. One can only hope our walkers stick to the leading pack as much as possible and give us a KT Irfan, London 2012 like moment.

Is Annu Rani really turning a corner?

Annu Rani has been spearheading Indian women’s Javelin for almost a decade. Since the gold medal at the Asian games in 2023 (62.92m), her form has been very uninspiring until recently. She had a brilliant August 2025 with multiple throws over 60m- twice over 62m. A 62m throw should be good enough for a finals place.

Five World Championships Each: The Quiet Legacy of Vikas Gowda and Annu Rani

Thinking about a medal is a stretch; her performances in the global events like the Olympics has been horrendous, to say the least. If she can replicate her performance from the 2019 world championships at Doha (she finished 8th in the finals), it would be a job very well done.

Parul will lead India’s Steeplechase challenge in Avinash Sable’s absence:

Parul Chaudhary has developed the reputation of saving her best for the world championships. In the past 2 editions at Eugene and Budapest, she crushed her own PBs by 13s and 23s respectively. She has since lowered her NR further and every time you see her, you get the feeling, there is lot left in the tank. Parul will have Ankita for company, who will also try to show that she is not there to just make up the numbers.

Priyanka Goswami gets another chance to rekindle the hope that comes occasionally with Indian racewalking. She has had her bright moments with silver medals at the 2022 CWG and 2023 Asian athletics championships. However, at the global level and outside India, her performances have been underwhelming. Pooja is probably the least accomplished of all our entrants- in 2025’s top lists, she ranks 219th in 800mand 242nd in 1500m. You only wish, she learns good habits from the better athletes.

I feel, Neeraj would medal, come what may. His form is not great, but his mentality is something else and he would fight with his last nails, if that’s what it takes. It would be nice to win another medal. ‘Two medals’ has a better ring to it than one.

Finally, it would be nice to hear the Indian national anthem, once again from Tokyo.